Doctor Who: Genesis of the Daleks (Part 1)
"Genesis of the Daleks (Part 1)" is the first chapter in the "Genesis of the Daleks" serial, which ran through episodes 11-16 in series 12 of the television series Doctor Who. The episodes originally aired in six parts on BBC1 from March 8th to April 12th, 1975. The serial was directed by David Maloney and written by veteran Doctor Who screenplay writer Terry Nation. Synopsis On the arid planet known as Skaro, two factions of humanoids wage war against one another. A group of soldiers, bearing archaic weaponry and wearing Earth-style World War I era gas masks, march over the horizon only to be struck down in a hail of gunfire from enemy bullets. As the last of the men fall to the ground, the battlefield becomes nothing but an empty plain of smoke. From out of the smoke steps the Doctor who seems to be unaware of his surroundings, or of the events that had only taken place moments ago. The Doctor is approached by an elder Time Lord who welcomes him, but the Doctor warns him about how dangerous it is to interrupt a transmat beam. Frustrated at being once again summoned to do the bidding of the other Time Lords, the Doctor absolutely refuses to engage in any more of their affairs; that is until the Time Lord mentions the Daleks. Upon hearing the name of his most hated enemies, the Doctor says "Tell me more". The Time Lord wants the Doctor to travel to a point in time prior to the evolution of the Daleks, and avert their creation, or, failing that, affect their genetic development so that they might evolve into a less aggressive species. The Doctor agrees to help, one last time, and asks for the spatial coordinates to Skaro. The Time Lord tells him, "You are already here". He then hands the Doctor a Time Ring and tells him that it will bring him back to the TARDIS once his mission is complete. He warns him not to lose the Time Ring under any circumstances. After the Time Lord leaves, Sarah Jane Smith and Harry Sullivan climb over the top of a hill and finally catch up with the Doctor. He tells them that there has been a slight change in plans and that they are now on Skaro. Before he can say anything else, the three of them find themselves the target of artillery fire. They dive behind a hill to get out of the way and the area explodes with gunfire and blinding flashes of light. As the smoke clears, they see the body of one of the gas mask-wearing soldiers. The Doctor inspects him more closely and finds weaponry of two different time eras lying next to him. Harry points out a radiation detector on the man's tunic and Sarah notes that he's wearing a combination of military fatigues and animal pelts. They continue on their way, stepping over several more dead soldiers. The Doctor briskly halts when he sees a land mine. He tells Harry and Sarah to follow in his footsteps, but as it turns out, it is the Doctor who steps upon a land mine. Nothing happens, but he knows that if he removes his foot, it might detonate. Harry takes some pieces of broken rock and wedges them underneath the exposed area of the mine to give it more stability. The Doctor carefully removes his foot and manages to back away without detonating the device. They continue down through a canyon until they can see some sort of domed structure off in the distance. As they get closer, they see a wall of sandbags being guarded by the bodies of dead soldiers. Once again noting the variances between modern equipment and ancient weaponry, the Doctor theorizes that whoever these soldiers are, they must have been fighting this war for a very long time. They walk behind the sandbag wall and find an iron door leading into a bunker. The door is locked, but before they can make their next move, noxious gas fumes begin filling up the area. The trio try to grab masks off the bodies of the dead, but just as they put them on, a group of soldiers descend upon them. From within the bunker, an altogether different group of soldiers emerge and shoot down the ones attacking the Doctor, Harry and Sarah. They pull the Doctor and Harry inside the bunker, but Sarah is left for dead. Once inside, the leader of the group notes that neither of the men appear to be Thals (the soldiers with the gas masks). They hoist them onto a transport and bring them down to the command center. They are brought before General Ravon, leader of the Kaleds, sworn enemy of the Thals. The General is an ambitious, yet angry young man who refers to the Doctor and Harry as "Mutos". He dismisses the attending officer and points a gun at the Doctor, ordering him to empty his pockets. The Doctor complies, but the task tries the General's patience as there are a variety of materials found within the Doctor's coat. Afterward, Ravon presents the Doctor with a battle map of his current campaign against the Thals. Still believing that the Doctor is secretly one of them, he becomes quite animated in describing how he is going to wipe the Thals from the face of the planet. The Doctor scoops up a pointer and uses it to disarm Ravon. He picks up his gun and gives it to Harry. He then orders Ravon to bring them back to the wastelands. Outside, Sarah revives and finds herself alone with the dead. She calls out for the Doctor and Harry, but there is no reply. She tries the door to the bunker, but finds it locked. She starts to wander off away from the facility, but someone... or something... begins following her. Back in the command center, the Doctor has General Ravon lead them back up through the lift towards the exits. They are stopped by Security Commander Nyder who immediately suspects that something is wrong. He orders his men to open fire on the Doctor and Harry Sullivan, who manage to evade their bullets and run down a connecting corridor. Nyder places the entire base on alert. General Ravon addresses him and tells Nyder that the two fugitives are neither Thals nor Mutos. Nyder is confident that they will find out what they are, "by autopsy". The Doctor and Harry find Platform Lift 7 and manage to ride it to the surface where they can escape. They begin running, but are overtaken by more armed guards who manage to surround them and bring them back inside. Nyder begins questioning the Doctor and Harry who reveal that they are both alien to Skaro. Nyder scoffs at this, citing that their most revered scientist Davros asserts that life does not exist on any world other than Skaro. Ravon suspects that the two might be highly-evolved Mutos. The Doctor asks what Mutos are and Nyder explains that they are "imperfects", scarred relics of their former selves, forever mutated by chemical radiation. Nyder tells Ravon that he wants the two prisoners brought to the bunker and it becomes apparent that he holds some authority over the general. Nyder then hands Ravon a supply order for materials that are to be moved to the bunker. Ravon cannot spare the equipment, but Nyder reminds him that the order is counter-signed by Davros himself. Meanwhile outside, Sarah continues scouring the perimeter of the domed facility, never realizing that a strange, hulking figure is lumbering after her. She comes upon a hole that leads back into the bunker. She peers inside and sees a strange alien sitting in a mechanized chair. This is Davros. Davros tests out his newest creation, a robotic sentinel known as a Dalek. Cast Principal Cast Guest Stars Notes & Trivia * Episode was included in the Doctor Who: Genesis of the Daleks DVD collection. * Is episode 392 in the entire series; serial number 4E. * Kaled is an anagram of Dalek. * The Time Lord asks the Doctor to "return to Skaro", even though he had already deposited him there. * The TARDIS does not appear in this episode. See also External Links * * * * "Genesis of the Daleks (Part 1)" at the Doctor Who Wiki ---- Category:1975/Episodes Category:March, 1975/Episodes